1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an improved film handling system, and in one aspect to an improved film cassette and film processor affording improved convenience for taking industrial X-rays.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Prior known cassettes for industrial X-ray have utilized a cassette which must be loaded in a dark room with a single sheet of radiation sensitive sheet material, i.e. film, and it is then carried to the X-ray site for exposure. The cassette is then carried back to the dark room where the film is removed to be placed into a processor and an unexposed film is loaded in the cassette. A number of such cassettes could be carried to the field where the X-ray work is handled and then all of the cassettes carried back for processing. This requires the purchase of a number of cassettes, each cassette requiring an intensifying screen, in some cases.
The present cassette and processing system requires only a single cassette which may be loaded with a plurality of sheets of film and the portable processor with a cassette accepting loading throat. A film may be exposed in the cassette and after each exposure the cassette is placed in the processor and the sheet is fed from the cassette through the processor and a new unexposed sheet is placed in proper position in the cassette for the next exposure. This is done in ambient light.
To reduce the expense of the cassette, the cassette and the processor cooperate in providing drive mechanisms for extracting a sheet of exposed film from the cassette and placing the same in the processor and at the same time the loading of a new sheet of film into the cassette. The discharge of one film and the loading of a second is handled while the cassette is placed into the processor and removed from the processor, respectively.